32159 KEESING'S VOLUME XXIX Majrifc MIDDLE EAST-ARAB WORLD

A. ISRAEL — Presidential election - Party and Government, parliamentary and party developing. government changes - Other internal developments Mr Begin announced on Dec. 22, 1981, the format^ "Ministerial Defence Committee", composed of nine mini; including Mr Ariel Sharon, the then Defence Minister. «g t Election of Mr Chaim Herzog as President (March 22, Itzhak Shamir, the Foreign Minister(bothmembersof Mr fa.. own Herut party), as well as representatives ofthe NRP ^ • 1983). Re-establishment of Ministerial Defence Committee Tami party. The committee—the equivalent of that set up in 1975—** te (December 1981). 27043—had been called for by the Agranat Commission f"Hlft|_/ Party changes and related developments (January 1973 to investigate allegations of unpreparednessin Israel's w&tftefe 1982 to February 1983). at the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war—see page 26368). Tht cokf Series of no-confidence motions (January toMay tee's original function was to maintain close control over the 9*, forces, but it wasalsobelieved that Mr Beginsawit as an"inner cah». 1982). useful for informal and confidential decision-making, since itsdtck, El Al crisis (May 1982 toJanuary 1983). and deliberations would not be made public. Death of Gen. Moshe Dayan (Oct. 16, 1981). Mr Aharon Abu-Hatzeira, the Minister of Labour, fc Controversy over proposed appointment of ambassador Welfare and Immigrants, and leader of the Tami party, n% to UK (February 1983). his ministerial post on April 23, 1982, after being convicta! Military changes following Kahan report (March embezzlement of funds (when he was Mayor of Ramie in If:; and sentenced to a suspended prisonterm of four years and*.; 1983). months. [For his indictment immediately following hisacq**, inMay 1981 onothercharges ofcorruption, seepages 30933^| The Tami central committee selected Mr Aharon Uzan, hnh? the Deputy Minister forIntegration of Immigrants, as his rapt* The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) on March 22, 1983, elected ment, the party having been guaranteed a cabinet post v- Mr Chaim Herzog (64) as the sixth President of Israel in suc government agreement reached on Aug. 4, 1981, between »• cession to Mr Itzhak Navon, whose term of office was due to Likud front on the one hand and the Agudat Israel, NRP* expire atthe endof May 1983 and who had announced on Jan. Tami parties on the other[see pages 31119-20]. 31 that he would not seek re-election. [For Mr Navon's.election Two Likud deputies, Mr Ammon Linn and Mr Itzhak f&nti& asPresident in April 1978see 29147A.] defected to the opposition Labour Party on May 18,1982,*; Mr Herzog, the candidate of the opposition Alignment, leaving the ruling coalition with only 59 out of 120se*t*4frJ*- received 61 votes in the secret ballot in the Knesset; there were Knesset. The Begin Government's majority was restored »W*^ two abstentions and 57 votes for Mr Menachem Elon, the candi 16, however, when Mr Yigael Hurwitz and Mr MordecMiWe« date sponsored by the ruling coalition—which comprised the Porat joined the Likud following the dissolution -of-4h*jpta». Herut and Liberal parties (together making up the Likud front), ("State Renewal") party, which had been formed in 1981 j the National Religious Party (NRP) and the Tami, Tehiya and 30933 A] by the late Gen. Moshe Dayan [for whose «*]L, Agudat Israel parties. October 1981,see below], but whichhadbeen unable to1 Since the ruling coalition controlled 64 seats in the Knesset, it whatwere described as"wide ideological differences'. was evident that seven of its members had failed to support Mr On July 4 it was announced that Mr Ben Porat had been . Elon. The three Tami ("Israeli Tradition") deputies were an additional Minister without Portfolio. believed to havesupported Mr Herzog (who was a friend of Mr The Government's position in Parliament was. Nessim Gaon, Tami's financial patron), and others also report strengthened on July 23 when the secretariat of the ritf edly preferred himbecause he was better known nationally than Tehiya ("Rebirth") party, which had three deputies L. ^ Mr Elon, aSupreme Court judge whose reputation was confined Knesset, voted by 21 to seven to join the ruling coalition. V mainly tolegal and scholarly circles. (Dr Joseph Burg, the Interior retaining its individual party identity. Minister and NRP leader, had on March 7 declined to stand in On July 25 Prof. Yuval Ne'eman, the leader of Tehiya: l» the presidential election, although he had the support of Mr formation inOctober 1979 [see page 30108] and one of Israeli Menachem Begin, the Prime Minister; Mr Burg's nomination nuclear scientists, became Minister of Science and Technolog had reportedly been opposed bythe Liberal and Tami parties.) increasing the size of the Cabinet to 20. Mr Herzog was born inBelfast in 1918, subsequently moving toDublin Series of motions of no confidence, January W when his father became Chief Rabbi of Ireland. He was educated at Cambridge and Sandhurst, and saw active service in the British Army May 1982 in the Second World War, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and Prior to this augmentation ofthe ruling coalition, a*? assisting in the capture of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Nazi SS ment's continued existence had been threatened \>y*!*zLi organization. On the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, he motions ofnoconfidence, which were, however, defeat became head of military intelligence with the rank of major-general. After leaving the Army in 1962, he worked as a journalist, gaining in the Knesset. national fame with his broadcasts during both the 1967and 1973wars. On Jan. 26, a motion of no confidence in the Governme Heserved asthe Israeli permanent representative attheUnited Nations of the evacuation from Sinai was defeated by 55 votes from 1975 to 1978, and was elected to the Knesset asa Labour deputy 31906], following a defeat for the Government by 50 previous day in a Labour-sponsored motion calling for I in June 1981. 1983 KEESING'S VOLUME XXIX 32160 May of compensation due to be paid to thesettlers. On March 23, a that the Labour Party was ceasing to act as an effective opposition to *• of no confidence in the Government's policies on the occupied the Government and that it had moved significantly to the right during Uwies resulted in a tied vote of 58 to 58, Rabbi Haim Druckman the period of the Begin administration.Therefore, the membersclaimed, K•pi voting against the Government in protest at the decision to they did not rule out the possibility of forming a new party if this trend VH wfrom Sinai [ibid.]; a tied vote on such a motion was officially were to continue. * Icrcd as a procedural victory for the Government, although Mr In a separate development, it was announced on July 27,1982, r'." reportedly suggested resigning, being subsequently persuaded to that, following agreement between the Likud and Labour parties, f'n in office by cabinet colleagues. On March 24, a motion of no the local authority elections, due to be held in November 1982, (I-nee in the Government's budget proposals produced an identical would be postponed to July 1983, because of the continuing war 4result, Rabbi Druckman again voting against the Government. On u 19 amotion of no confidence in government economic policy was in Lebanon. Labour Party sources privately admitted that the ji'aicd by 58 votes t057-in sP'te of tne oefection of tw0 Likud deputies party's reason for agreeingto the postponement was the fear of the labour party the previous day [see above], since both the deputies suffering heavy electoral defeats due to Mr Begin's personal l-n belonging to Telem abstained, as did one of the Tehiya deputies. popularity following Israeli victories in the war. Formation of new party within ruling coalition Sentencing of Mr Flatto-Sharon following reports of increasing differences of opinion within On Jan. 11, 1983, Mr Samuel Flatto-Sharon, an independent ihc NRP. particularly over the issue of Israeli withdrawal from Knesset deputy from 1977 to 1981, lost his appeal against a Sinai, it was announced at the beginning of February 1983 that conviction on charges of electoral bribery during the 1977 elec •new party, Matzad ("Rally of Religious Zionism"), had been tions, and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment. (Mr fvtablished, with Rabbi Druckman as its principal founder and Flatto-Sharon had originally sought election to the Knesset as a hist leader. means of gaining parliamentary immunity and thereby avoiding Ii was believed that the new party would have widespread support extradition to France, where he faced imprisonment for fraud, •oaai members of the Shvut Yisrael ("Whole Land of Israel") faction forgery and tax evasion—see pages 28534-35; 30108; 30934; rflhc NRP, formed byRabbi Druckman inMay 1982, which was opposed 31119.) 11 my territorial concessions by Israel. Rabbi Druckman stated at the um; of Matzad's formation that he would continue to support the EI Al crisis - Further economic developments interning coalition. During the summer and autumn of 1982, El Al, Israel's Developments within opposition parties national airline, was subject to a series of bitter industrial disputes There was considerable speculation in early 1983 that former over both religious and economic issues, which came close to Ficsident Navon might return to party politics and replace Mr resulting in the airline's liquidation. Shimon Peres as leader of the Labour Party. (Mr Navon was The Government announced on May 2, 1982, that it would lormcrly a Labourdeputy in the Knesset from 1965 to 1977 and take steps to implement one of the clauses of the August 1981 chairman ofthe foreign affairsand defence committee from 1975 agreement between the Likud and the religious parties, which lo1977-see 29147 A.) stated that El Al would cease to operate flights on the Sabbath Public opinion polls conducted in January 1983 revealed that the and Jewish holidays. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled on May opposition Alignment (comprising the Labour and Mapam—United 10 that any such move had first to be endorsed by the Knesset's I Workers—parties), would improve its electoral popularity, to a level finance committee; the Government subsequently announced at nmiparable withthat of the ruling coalition, if Mr Navon were to become the beginning of August that Sabbath flights would cease asfrom »> leader. Speculation as to Mr Navon's intentions increased when both the end of the month, subject to approval by the finance commit Mr Peres andMr Itzhak Rabin, a former Prime Ministerfrom 1973 to tee, whichon Aug. 22 decided by a margin of 11 votes to 10 to "77 [see 28533 A], indicated that they were prepared to support him endorse the decision. * leader. El Al staff at Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, who stood to lose a 250 \\ The Labour Party's effectiveness andinternal cohesion hadbeen sub- per cent Sabbath day bonus if the ban was imposed, staged a series of •Unlially impaired during1982due to a seriesof incidents including (i) protests in which orthodox Jews, readily identified by their distinctive *rimcmious and public disagreements between MrPeres andMrRabin, • mode of dress, were delayed or turned away at the entrance to the •hohad defeated MrPeresinclosely contested partyleadership elections passenger terminal. TheSabbath ban also metwith opposition from the * February 1977 but resigned in April 1977 on being charged with Histadrut (Israel'strade unionfederation) which announced on Aug. 31 """ravening currency regulations [see 28533 A]; (ii) a report by the that a one-day strike to coincide with the implementation of the ban ,J>tor of 77te New York Times in November 1982alleging that Labour would be staged by workers in the transport and power industries. *»dcrs had approached him to work for a cut in economic assistance Opposition deputies criticized the ban as being motivated by religious MB the United States as a meansof bringing down the BeginGovern- dogmatism, whilst a report by a government committee claimed that Bci"; and (Hi) open disagreement within the party during the Israeli because of the effects on Israel's exports and tourist trade, the country ^«ion of Lebanon in August 1982 with regard to the extent to which could lose the equivalent of over £69,000,000 a year as a result of the "•wur should support theGovernment's conduct ofthewar. [For events ,d,"8 up to and including the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, see 31905 A.] decision. On Sept. 2, the day the ban was due to come into force, the '"January 1982, a new organization known as Ometz ("Political 7°nist Opposition") had been formed, with the stated intention of acting Supreme Court issued an interim injunction ordering the airline *•> umbrella group for opponents of the Begin Government. Its to maintain all flights for 45 days. The court ruled that the ban J nJerusalem. Whilst it was denied that Ometz was intended Theproblems facing El Alasa result oftheSabbath banwere COme a new political party, many ofits members expressed a fear compounded by the announcement in September of a manage- 32161 KEESING'S VOLUME XXIX Mm ment plan to restructure the airline involving the curtailment of Death of Gen. Moshe Dayan union rights and the reduction of staff levels from 5,000 to 4,000, Gen. Moshe Dayan, who had been Israeli Chief""jf - ,, which led to further industrial action by El Al workers, resulting Agriculture Minister, Defence Minister and latterly g&<^' in the airline being grounded from mid-September onwards. Minister (in 1977-79), died ofa heart attack on OcL$&\<&\ After the failure of negotiations on the restructuring, the board aged 66. of directors of El Al decided on Oct. 18 to recommend the The son of Russian immigrants, he was born in 191$ \\&piJi>'*fl' airline's liquidation, a decision which was approved by the kibbutz, one of the first Jewish communal settlements in'whatJJT^ Government in its role as majority shareholder on Oct. 24, and Ottoman-ruled Palestine. At the age of 14 he joined the iBeat, on Dec. 5 the airline appointed an official receiver. defence organization, the Haganah, and after serving as_i_k_ On Jan. 1,1983, however, the Histadrut, negotiating on behalf British forces during the 1936 Arab riots, he returned to Ut^^" operations; he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment by thr I of the airline staff, succeeded in reaching an agreement with the authorities in 1939, but released in1941 tohelp the British agaimX/UA^ receiver based on the restructuring plan, as a result of which El French forces in Syria andinLebanon (where helost thesight of ! loi^C Al's flights were resumed on Jan. 12, although the airline con eye). He commanded the Haganah forces in the Jerusalemare* tinued to face serious financial problems (losses equivalent to 1948 war and, as chief military delegate, signed the armisticr i itjJh $244,000,000 having been reported in 1982). [see 9743 A; 9829 A; 10100 A]. ! *• From 1953 to 1958 he was Army Chief of Staff, commao*! Economic problems - Widespread industrial unrest Israeli forces in the successful advance across the Sinai in \^!y 15173 A]. In 1959 he was elected as a Mapai (Labour) candid* During 1982 the war in Lebanon served to aggravate the Knesset and became Agriculture Minister in Mr David Be' ; problems already facing Israel's economy. The annual rate of administration [see 17213 A]. Heresigned from theGovernment, .l^tp4! inflation rose from its level of 101 per cent in 1981 to 131.5 per [see 20519 A] after Mr Levi Eshkol had succeeded Mr Ben-(» cent in 1982, despite budgetary measures which included the Prime Minister, and he supported Mr Ben-Gurion in settinguppt reduction of government expenditure in the fields of welfare and (Israel Labour List) to contest the 1965 elections [see 21086A.*'' education and were designed to reduce the inflation rate to 90 22463 A; 22556 D for reunification of the Labour Party in 1968i~ per cent. The 1982 balance-of-payments deficit was equivalent In June 1967, under pressure from public opinion with tension; to US$4,910 million, an increase of over $500,000,000 during ing on Israel's borders, Mr Eshkol invited him back into the Govt; the year, whilst the trade deficit alone rose by 18 per cent to as Defence Minister [see 22075 A], four days before the outbreak; $3,000 million. Six Day War in which he engineered the pre-emptive strike* i ensured Israeli victory [see 22099 A]. He continued as Defence M? The cost of the war in Lebanon was estimated at $3,000 million, until May 1974, when he was not reappointed to the Rabin Gover-/ necessitating further austerity measures in the budget for 19,83-84, two- following widespread criticism oftheshortcomings ofthedefencrl^"*^ thirds of which was absorbed in debt repayments and defence expen at the outbreak of the October 1973 Middle East war [see 26578f diture. An additional problem was the sharp decline in tourist trade during the autumn, which was seen as being due to the effects of the war In 1977, following the electoral victory of the Likud tottot* and to Israel's decline in popularity amongst potential travellers from Dayan, although elected on the opposition Alignment list, wisaeve Europe and North America. less appointed Foreign Minister in Mr Begin's administrate 28533 A]. He played aleading role in the negotiations with Egyjas ^. According to a report published at the beginning of January 1983 by led to the signing of the Camp David agreements in September (I the Israeli National Institute of Insurance, the number of Israelis living [see 29646 A], but failed to win cabinet support for his prppOB! below the poverty line—defined as those receiving an income of less than establishing a civilian administration on the West Bank, and, J**** 20 per cent of the average Israeli salary—had risen to 155,000, represent from taking part in subsequent negotiations on Palestinian auK" ing an increase of 100 per cent over the period 1979 to 1981. he resigned from theCabinet on Oct. 21, 1979 [see 30107 A]. In developments on the stock market, the Government In 1981, he formed the Telem party [see above],one of thep* announced in June 1982 that it would start selling shares in aimsof which wasto gainpublicsupportfor hisproposals onthe0B government-controlled companies in an effort to raise capital territories, whichincludedplansfor the unilateral establishment V and absorb the large amount of money in public hands which tinian autonomy on the West Bank. Telem won only two leita' had resulted in new share issues being 3d to 40 times over June 1981 elections [see 31118 A], and it was widely believedI& subscribed. The National Coal Company and Paz Oil, Israel's deteriorating health and poor campaign performance contribuf5 largest oil marketing firm, were the first companies to be affected relative failure. by this measure. On Jan. 20, 1983, Mr Yoram Aridor, the Finance Minister, Controversy over appointment of ambassador t^. announced that the Government would introduce new regula As a result of considerable opposition in London wwfJ, ^ tions to "normalize" the operation of the stock market and curb posed appointment of Mr Eliahu Lankin to succeed **f^.^r speculation. Argov as Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom,r During 1982 the share index had risen by over 70 per cent to a point announced on Feb. 25, 1983, that he no longer where, according to Mr Meir Heth, the chairman of the Tel Aviv Stock considered for the post. [For the assassination of Mr A Exchange,it no longer bore any relation to the state of the economy. In June 1982, see page 31914.] the week following Mr Aridor's announcement, share prices fell by an MrLankin(currently Israeli ambassador to SouthAfrica)- average of 30 to 35 per cent, although on Jan. 25 the Government commander in the Irgun Zwai Leumi, the Jewish guerrilla 1 announced that it would intervene if necessary "in order to avoid a led by Mr Begin which had carried out attacks on Britfa catastrophe". Palestine during the 1940s. Whilst there had been no ! A series of strikes organized by the Histadrut in December reaction tohis proposed appointment, it was criticized both mt 1982 insupportofpaydemandsbypublicsectorworkers,culmin editorials and in the UK Parliament; Mr Winston Churchill. ** ated in action on Dec. 28 by over 400,000 employees, one-third tive member ofParliament, claimed inparticular that the Isrtei of Israel's total workforce. ment would be "peculiarly insensitive and undiplomatic tc •

32162 lv83 KEESING'S VOLUME XXIX & vV*"^,,rtuntry.whoUrt u/!wasinvolved inthe assassination of manyBritish Responsibility for the attack was claimed in the first instance by the Al Jihad al-Islami (Islamic Holy War) organization (an offshoot of the Lebanese Shi'ite Amal militia—see pages 30925; 31925), which stated the Prime Minister, was also reported to be * Lwt Thatcher, that the explosion was "part of the Iranian revolution's campaign against ¥ " ¥.,. i ankin's appointment, and Mr Lankin's decision to step i-lv believed to be the result of an unpublicized meeting the imperialist presence throughout the world" [Al-Jihad al-Islami ^Tt^'.idcly•ffMlf. .mccnbeteMr Begin and Mr David Wolfson, amember of Mrs having previously claimed responsibility for attacks on troops of the *M ilitical office, who was alleged to have raised the possibility international peace-keeping force—see below]. On April 19, responsibil ^i-le opnition of the Palestine Liberation Organization in retali- ity for the attack was also claimed by two hitherto unknown groups, the *? fV _. jj Qovernmertt insisted on Mr Lankin's appointment. Arab Socialist Unionists and the Organization for Vengeance for the Martyrs of Sabra and Chatila (the two refugee camps in west Beirut in i Military changes following the Kahan report whichlarge numbers of Palestinian civilianswere massacred in September 0f the process ofimplementing the recommendations 1982—see pages 32039-40). In condemning the explosion as "a cowardly act", President Reagan 5 a'iCihan Commission's report on the Beirut massacres [see said that it would not deter US peace efforts in the region, stating that 12041-451 'l was announced on March 1, 1983, that he had instructed Mr Morris Draper, the chief US negotiator in Lebanon, * (.m Ychoshua Saguy, the director ofmilitary intelligence, and Mr Philip Habib, the special US presidential representative to the *' dismissed, and that Bri.-Gen. Amos Yaron, the Beirut Middle East, to press ahead with negotiations for the withdrawal of all If "/^j^ommander of the Israeli Defence Force, had been foreign forces from Lebanon. [For the commencement of the negoti £*S< field command. ations, see pages 32047-48; for previous attacks on diplomaticstaff and i t irnaratc development, it was announced on March 15 buildings in Beirut during 1981-82, see pages 31923-24.] » Mj| Gen. Moshe Levi had been named as the new Israeli Attacks on the international peace-keeping force i ii •nf Staff in succession to Lt.-Gen. Rafael Eitan, who was During February and March 1983, the international peace *_ t... retire from the post in April. Lt.-Gen. Eitan had also • irvercly criticized by the Kahan Commission, which had keeping force in Beirut [firstdeployed in August 1982—see pages je Wcvcr, recommended any penalty, due to his imminent 31918-19], was the target of a series of attacks, the most serious of which occurred as follows: (i) on Feb. 2, two French Marines ill—(Jerusalem Post - Times - International Herald were wounded when their jogging party was attacked in west Guardian - Financial Times - Le Daily Telegraph Beirut; (ii) on March 16, one Italian soldier was killed and eight (Prev. rep. 31118 A; Arab-Israeli »' New York Times) others wounded when their patrol near the airport came under conflict 32034 A; 31905 A) grenade and rifle fire, while later the same day five US Marines were wounded in a grenade attack in the Ouzai area [see map A LEBANON — Internal security and other on page 32040], responsibility for both attacks being claimed by *»»rlopmcnfs the hitherto unknown Al Jihad al-Islami organization [see above]; (iii) on March 17, another Italian soldier was wounded **mb explosion at US embassy (April 18, 1983). in an attack on a routine patrol; and (iv) on March 18, hand Amids on international peace-keepingforce (February grenades were thrown at a command post of the French contin gent in the suburb of Chiah. •ml March 1983). After the attacks on March 16, the Lebanese Army cordoned off the Atwks on Israeli soldiers (January to April 1983). area, arresting over 200 people and reportedly seizingseveral thousand Ptfbymeut ofLebanese Army in east Beirut (Feb. 15, rounds of ammunition at a local office of Amal. On April 4 it was mh announced that seven members of AlJihad al-Islami, and two members kmb explosion at Palestine Research Centre (Feb. 5, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, had been detained M3). in connexion with the attacks. Whilst diplomatic and other sourcesbelievedthat pro-Iranian Shi'ites tiling between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in Tripoli were responsible for the attacks, a spokesmanfor the LebaneseGovern (Dfctmber 1982, January 1983). ment claimed on March 16 that the attacks served Israeli interests, and u",0 Saudi Arabia by President Gemayel were intended "to demonstrate that the Lebanese Army is incapable of (Sov. 14-15, 1982). guaranteeing security and stability". Ointment of new UNIFIL Chief of Staff (Feb. 24, In an unrelated development, it was announced on Jan. 23 that an Irish soldier serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), was to face an Irish Army court martial in Dublin on charges of murdering three of his colleagues who were shot dead at a UNIFIL ^Vil 18, 1983, abomb exploded at the United States command postinsouthern Lebanon in October 1982 [see page 32046]. \ j'm Be'rut, killing approximately 60 people and injuring Tension between US Marines and Israeli forces | ^"w c°mpletely destroying the central consular section of During early 1983 troops of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) *"Hdh Mr Robert DiHon. the US ambassador, was un- and US Marines serving with the international peace-keeping •4^ ut among those killed were Lebanese civilians and 17 force came into confrontation in a series of incidents on the I |u|" ' including Marine guards, senior embassy staff, and southern fringe of Beirut. It was reported on Feb. 2 that an ,»'>^*r,fKAmes' the director of the Central Intelligence Israeli armoured unit had attempted to enter a US-controlled % n office of analysis for the Near East and South Asia, zone, and was preventedfrom doingso only by the action of a ^*«> six other CIA employees. US Marine captain, who climbed on to the leading Israeli tank 5 "* lonn'01} OCCl!rred shortly after 1p.m. local time, and apparently and threatened its commander with a loaded pistol. i *•*> ^ *su'cide attack, in which a van containing anestimated I^Mi0i1,P°sive was driven across the embassy forecourt and into On March 17, the US Defence Department released the text m*• building. of a letter sent to Mr Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of Defence,

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